Odd Future: Real Life Fantasy [Full Story From the 2011 June Issue]

“I hate this part,” says Tyler, the Creator from the darkness. His angular frame is jackknifed into the back storage area of a black SUV. The vehicle crawls through swarms of people milling outside the open-air Mess With Texas concert, part of the South by Southwest music festival held every March in Austin. The 20-year-old rapper and his group, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, are scheduled to perform momentarily, and he’s been smacked with a burst of stage fright. “Dude, I’m shaking like a bitch,” he says. He leans forward and growls softly. “Fuckin’ dyke, dyke pussy, dyke pussy, fuck shit,” he says. “Fuck, my face hurts.”

The truck stops. As Tyler and his cohort extract themselves from the cramped vehicle, they’re engulfed in a thicket of boom mics, video cameras and blinding flashbulbs. Someone guides them toward a side entrance, and they stumble through the chaos. From the periphery, people shout “Swag” and “Golf Wang.” The crowd, unseen behind an eight-foot fence, is bellowing one of Odd Future’s catchphrases: “Kill people! Burn shit! Fuck school!”

Tyler’s jitters are dispelled by the time Odd Future hit the stage. Using a laptop, Syd, a lean 18-year-old girl, drops the spare, ominous beat to “Sandwiches,” a track from 2010. During the next 20 minutes, the group unleashes a brand of chaos associated more with punk rock than hip-hop. Tyler, after shedding a green ski mask, climbs 15 feet up the speaker scaffolding, peels off his shoes and plunges into the crowd. Hodgy Beats raps while floating atop the congregation’s arms. Left Brain, Domo Genesis and Mike G cause general mischief. As the Budweiser-fueled audience surges forward, crowd surfers are vomited onto the stage and heaved back into the fray by security. Bottles and cans whistle through the air. Near the end of the set, P. Diddy joins the group onstage for a wild rendition of “Fuck the Police,” a Flocka-esque track off 2010’s BlackenedWhite, an album Hodgy and Left Brain made as a duo called Mellow Hype. Tyler lunges into the audience with a skateboard, opening up a nasty gash on a fan’s head. When the victim is ushered backstage after the show, a crush of journalists, bloggers and photographers rush in to document his blood-splattered face. It’s a moment that encapsulates Odd Future: music, mayhem and media.

Despite the presence of Kanye West, Duran Duran, TV on the Radio and countless other acts, Odd Future were indisputably the story of SXSW. Their seven shows—mostly events hosted by magazines, like Billboard,Fader,Thrasher and Vice—culminated an exceedingly rapid and improbable rise to prominence. Without any major co-signs, hit records, albums in stores or major-label support, the group of young artists from Los Angeles went from obscurity to stardom over the course of several breathtaking months.

It’s easy to see why. Mixing Eminem’s toxic content and baroque rhyming with the Neptunes’ spacey production style, Odd Future present a cornucopia of delicious contradictions. They grew up in households where so-called conscious artists like Talib Kweli and The Roots were the soundtrack, yet they rap about violence, screwing White women and doing cocaine. They listen to Three 6 Mafia, Lil B and Waka Flocka Flame, yet they value dense lyricism and low-fidelity production unsuitable for contemporary clubs or radio. Their artsy integrity seems rooted in rap traditionalism, but when compared with groups from the past, they shrug at compliments and sneer at criticisms. “I really don’t listen to rap from the 1990s,” says Tyler. “I was fuckin’ 3 at the time.”

During the music festival, Odd Future and their management team—headed up by Interscope Records veteran Christian Clancy—turned a split-level ranch in the Austin suburbs into a flophouse. On a warm afternoon, members of the group spend downtime lounging in a backyard Jacuzzi. Dos Equis and marijuana circulate. Hodgy proposes chucking eggs into the crowd at the next show, and conversation veers toward other projectiles. “In the Middle East, they stone bitches for cheating,” says Syd. Domo, submerged in the bubbling water fully clothed, cracks jokes about honor killings. Much has been made of Odd Future’s offensive language, but it’s no different from the giddy prude-baiting that comes with any group of shit-talking, skateboarding teenagers.

Just last summer, they could be found on Fairfax Avenue, skating back and forth between boutiques like Diamond and Supreme. “Tyler was yelling at people in the street, screaming out, ‘I don’t punch niggas—I punch bitches in the face!’ ” says Scott Sasso, owner of Brooklyn clothing company 10 Deep, who met the group when he set up a pop-up L.A. branch last summer. “It was a spectacle. He was playfully annoying the folks on the street, but it was harmless.”

Recommended for You

Best of XXL

Best of XXL

so, you got to hang with OF at this show and there’s no actual content ‘with them’ in this article, just observation about their ‘rise to fame’. I can see why they (Tyler) don’t care for interviews…

Frank Ocean & Super 3 are affiliates of OF? really??

$yk

thing is I don’t mind these dudes…it’s the hype and the crown people gave them IMMEDIATELY before they even did anything that bothers me.

Even V.I.C. had a buzz…

PQUL

Only white people could possibly fuck with these dudes

R.Mendez

Just another talentless act that will disappear once there to old to act like this and not look like douchebags, Im sure some off them will go off and try to do there own thing and fail, the successful ones in this group will take there tiny royalty check and buy a supermarket or a storage facility. Yawn, shock rap bores me, its old news, remember when brother lynch was cool? for 3 months in 95? Or insane clown posse? Or even 2 live crew. Been done, been there, seen it, heard it, over it.

NAME

@R.Mendez No Actually I Don’t Remember When Brother Lynch Was Cool You Old Fucken Dinosaur… And Insane Clown Posse Was And Always Has Been Garbage Fucken Listen To All Of OF’s Music Before Judge Fucken Moron.
They’re Not Shock Value
Typical Shit Talking Old Man Go Listen To Your Old Gay Shit And Try To Make Yourself Feel Better Than Everyone Else

http://volvoxc70.net/ Volvo XC70

Thanks for another informative blog. Where else could I get that kind of info written in such an ideal way? I have a project that I’m just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such info.

http://massivecreampie.com/ massive creampie

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit, but instead of that, this is excellent blog. A great read. I’ll definitely be back.

http://suzukigsxr600.com Suzuki GSX-R600

Hi! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!

http://suzukigsxr600.com Suzuki GSX-R600

Thanks for another excellent article. Where else may just anyone get that type of information in such an ideal way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such info.

http://trazodonedosage.com/ trazodone dosage

An interesting discussion is price comment. I think that it’s best to write extra on this topic, it may not be a taboo subject however usually people are not sufficient to talk on such topics. To the next. Cheers

http://armycpol.net/ Army CPOL

It’s perfect time to make a few plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this publish and if I could I desire to suggest you some attention-grabbing issues or tips. Maybe you could write subsequent articles relating to this article. I wish to read more issues approximately it!

http://benigntumor.net/ Benign Tumor

I truly wanted to make a brief comment to express gratitude to you for some of the marvelous strategies you are placing at this site. My time-consuming internet search has now been rewarded with pleasant insight to exchange with my colleagues. I would mention that many of us visitors are undeniably fortunate to live in a really good network with many marvellous people with insightful hints. I feel extremely blessed to have seen your web page and look forward to many more pleasurable minutes reading here. Thanks a lot once more for a lot of things.

http://benigntumor.net/ Benign Tumor

Hello, i think that i saw you visited my weblog so i came to “return the favor”.I am trying to find things to enhance my website!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!

http://schwannoma.net/ Schwannoma

Thanks , I’ve recently been looking for info about this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I’ve discovered so far. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure about the source?

http://babinskireflex.com/ babinski reflex

Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog post or vice-versa? My blog goes over a lot of the same subjects as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other. If you happen to be interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Superb blog by the way!

http://en.netlog.com/erwinvelez513/blog/blogid=6997224 Inguinal Canal

wonderful issues once and for all, you simply gained a different reader. What would people suggest about your own post in which you made some days to weeks in yesteryear? Any certain?

http://nfsworldhack.posterous.com nfs world speedhack

You’re really a just right webmaster. The site loading speed is amazing. It kind of feels that you are doing any unique trick. In addition, The contents are masterpiece. you’ve performed a wonderful task on this matter!